I have decided to finally bring my work on this blog to a close so that I can work on my writing skills, and work on becoming a published author. Thanks to everyone that supported this blog and be sure to look out for my work on my Facebook page and to follow me on instagram!
'Til next time!
Louise Williams
Sunday, July 27, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Local Living, Global Awareness: Plastic Bags
While doing some chores earlier today I happened to notice that my recycle bin explicitly stated not to add plastic bags to the bin. This was a bit weird to me considering that every other plastic item could be thrown in, especially bottles and heavier packaging material. So I thought it fitting that plastic bags be the subject of this week's 'Local Living' post!
Plastic bags (like the kind your groceries are often packed into) are generally made of high-density polyethylene, a type of plastic that can take decades to breakdown and that is unfortunately but not suprprisingly still very toxic after its breakdown. Little red flags went off in my head when I saw that they shouldn't be put in the recycling, in part because of how toxic the plastic - broken down or otherwise - is to the environment.
Just to put this in perspective, in every square mile of the ocean, there are over 40,000 plastic bags to be found. Plastic bags also come in at the second-highest volume of litter in the ocean (right behind cigarette butts, which - random fact - some birds have now begun using in their nests to keep away pests!).
This is especially worrisome considering how quickly we go through plastic bags, and how quickly I go through them in my own life after repurposing them as lunch bags, or for scooping cat litter. Ecosystems all over the world have suffered from this; plant life, from the toxins seeping into soil and countless animals, due suffocation and poisoning as well.
So if we don't recycle plastic bags, what do we do with them?
According to this source, and many others that I've seen, the answer is to reuse and reuse as much as possible in order to keep the bags out of the trash all together. Because once they are there it is straight to the landfills they go.
And that's especially important to know. Because it seems to me then, that the best way to deal with the problem is to not accept "disposable" grocery bags at all. Next time I go shopping, my old tote bag will be coming with me.
_____________________________________
All the world is made up of local communities. One small community now has the capability to affect or to be affected by those thousands of miles away. This immense influence comes with this responsibility: to know those we affect and to do what we can to do right by them.
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| Source: greenville.com |
Just to put this in perspective, in every square mile of the ocean, there are over 40,000 plastic bags to be found. Plastic bags also come in at the second-highest volume of litter in the ocean (right behind cigarette butts, which - random fact - some birds have now begun using in their nests to keep away pests!).
This is especially worrisome considering how quickly we go through plastic bags, and how quickly I go through them in my own life after repurposing them as lunch bags, or for scooping cat litter. Ecosystems all over the world have suffered from this; plant life, from the toxins seeping into soil and countless animals, due suffocation and poisoning as well.
So if we don't recycle plastic bags, what do we do with them?
According to this source, and many others that I've seen, the answer is to reuse and reuse as much as possible in order to keep the bags out of the trash all together. Because once they are there it is straight to the landfills they go.
And that's especially important to know. Because it seems to me then, that the best way to deal with the problem is to not accept "disposable" grocery bags at all. Next time I go shopping, my old tote bag will be coming with me.
_____________________________________
All the world is made up of local communities. One small community now has the capability to affect or to be affected by those thousands of miles away. This immense influence comes with this responsibility: to know those we affect and to do what we can to do right by them.
Saturday, July 5, 2014
Wednesday, July 2, 2014
Activism Spotlight: Performing Against Animal Cosmetics Testing
I have great respect for performance artists. A kind of bemused respect - given some of the things they will do to make their points - but great respect nonetheless.
And it is precisely because of artists like Jacqueline Traide, a student from Oxford Brookes University, who allowed herself to be "restrained, force-fed, and injected with" various cosmetics in a window in plain sight of the many passersby who were aghast at what they saw.
The astounding, 10-hour performance was clearly an effort to raise awareness for the animal cosmetics testing which the performance had paralleled. The stark dehumanization of the student - which, it would seem, culminated in the shaving of part of her head during the process - was surely a shock to many who had witnessed it. Of course, it wasn't shock alone that gave the performance its power.
As they say, "Location, location, location!"
This all took place in a shop window on Lush's Regent Street, one of the UK's busiest shopping avenues. It was very likely that many of those shoppers taken aback by Jacqueline's performance had very recently purchased - or were en route to purchase - the makeup whose origins the performance protested vehemently.
The performance caught my eye for obvious reasons: it was disturbing, enlightening (I had no clue about the process used to test cosmetics on animals before), and also far reaching. Though the performance was only geared toward animal cosmetics testing, it most assuredly raised other questions as well.
For me, the question was this: Why are farm animals not given the same love and respect in American culture as is given to those we keep as pets?
Why are we willing to turn a blind eye - and an unmoved heart - to the horrifying cruelty that delivers us our cheaper meats?
These questions appeared in my mind as I watched Jacqueline Traide submit to what - if done to a human - would undoubtedly be called torture, and I realized that her performance had done her job. It had begun a conversation, even if it was only happening in my own mind, on yet another pitfall of our enabled craving for cheaper products.
Now, I wonder, if we might be moved to do something about it.
And it is precisely because of artists like Jacqueline Traide, a student from Oxford Brookes University, who allowed herself to be "restrained, force-fed, and injected with" various cosmetics in a window in plain sight of the many passersby who were aghast at what they saw.
The astounding, 10-hour performance was clearly an effort to raise awareness for the animal cosmetics testing which the performance had paralleled. The stark dehumanization of the student - which, it would seem, culminated in the shaving of part of her head during the process - was surely a shock to many who had witnessed it. Of course, it wasn't shock alone that gave the performance its power.
As they say, "Location, location, location!"
This all took place in a shop window on Lush's Regent Street, one of the UK's busiest shopping avenues. It was very likely that many of those shoppers taken aback by Jacqueline's performance had very recently purchased - or were en route to purchase - the makeup whose origins the performance protested vehemently.
The performance caught my eye for obvious reasons: it was disturbing, enlightening (I had no clue about the process used to test cosmetics on animals before), and also far reaching. Though the performance was only geared toward animal cosmetics testing, it most assuredly raised other questions as well.
For me, the question was this: Why are farm animals not given the same love and respect in American culture as is given to those we keep as pets?
Why are we willing to turn a blind eye - and an unmoved heart - to the horrifying cruelty that delivers us our cheaper meats?
These questions appeared in my mind as I watched Jacqueline Traide submit to what - if done to a human - would undoubtedly be called torture, and I realized that her performance had done her job. It had begun a conversation, even if it was only happening in my own mind, on yet another pitfall of our enabled craving for cheaper products.
Now, I wonder, if we might be moved to do something about it.
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